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The crisp smell of fall in the air, skeletons taking over front lawns, fake spiderwebs draped over entire houses (real ones in my yard since I don't knock them down), and goblins, ghosts, and vampires out in full force—it’s hands-down my favorite time of the year. Naturally, this makes it the perfect time to talk about real-life bloodsuckers. It would be too obvious to list mosquitoes and bed bugs, so I’m going to start with a few other critters that might not immediately pop

Today’s blog post is about this recent article: No, you aren’t in the wrong place, this is still about pest control. But why am I talking about pigs and swine farms? Great question, thanks for asking! When we think about pests invading a facility, we picture the usual suspects: a gap under a door, an open dock leveler, an unscreened vent, or a crack in the foundation. We focus so much energy on structural exclusion—and don't get me wrong, sealing up a building is vital—that w

If you scroll through local health department reports, late summer always brings a wave of "red placard" closures. From high-profile venue shutdowns in Florida to resort closures in Hawaii, municipal inspectors are dropping the hammer on commercial kitchens over severe pest activity—hundreds of roach sightings, heavy rodent droppings, and drain flies over prep surfaces. The public reaction is usually immediate outrage. As part of the pest control industry, and having spent pl

Lately, I’ve been doing a LOT of work in food processing sites. So of course, I have stored product pests on my brain. And on every other open tab of my browser! This time of year, if you run quality assurance or perform pest control services for a food processing plant, commercial bakery, or distribution hub, late summer brings a very specific kind of headache. It’s August. Temperatures inside non-air-conditioned warehouses are hovering in the upper 80s or 90s, if you are lu

When most people hear the word "plague," they immediately picture medieval Europe, wooden carts, and plague doctors in bird masks. It feels like an ancient historical artifact. The plague is still very much active today. Yersinia pestis (the bacterium that causes plague) has been quietly circulating in the wildlife of the American West for decades. A recent announcement from the New Mexico Department of Health: a wild rodent in Santa Fe County officially tested positive for

The FIFA World Cup is here, and the numbers being tossed around are staggering. A recent piece by food safety expert Francine Shaw highlighted a logistics nightmare: one host city expects up to 10 million visitors but only has 28 health inspectors on staff. Yep, that’s my city of Atlanta. Let that sink in. Ten million international fans. Thousands of temporary food trucks, pop-up tents, and fan zones. The Atlanta airport has new food stalls in many terminals. All being monito

My cat was playing with a cockroach the other day, just one of the woods roaches that occasionally get in. Of course, I yelled at her (lots of good that did!) and removed the dead cockroach from her mouth and threw it out. Is my precious Max in danger from sucking on a cockroach? Probably not. Cockroaches elicit a definite “ew”, a distinct “yuck”, and a pretty definitive “nope” from most people and for good reason. The conditions they are found in are nasty and disgusting. So

I have a lot of Google alerts for words relating to pest control. I typically skim through, look for any scientific articles and quickly delete. Then this one caught my eye. Ugh, here we go again, I think to myself. And yes, here we go again. Now, I get it. Pesticides are scary, especially when you call them “poisons”. Yes, they are intended to knock down the pest. Yes, some are poisonous (ingested). Yes, we want to make sure only the target animal is impacted by the pesti

It's day 8 of mosquito madness! You folks know I read a lot of research on all things pests so I can help my clients provide the best service possible. I have quite a few alerts set for news stories on all things pest related. It doesn’t surprise me that pest control and pest control devices are in the news. People want to protect themselves, their homes, and their foods from harmful pests. And if you read it on the internet, it must be true. Smh Here’s a few things that

When someone finds a hole in a wool coat or a silk rug, the first thing they say is, "A moth ate my clothes!" I hate to be the bearer of bad news (well, maybe I don't, I am an entomologist), but that’s not entirely true. The adult moths you see fluttering around? They don't even have functional mouthparts. They don’t eat anything at all. The real villains are their "teenagers"—the larvae. Whether you are managing a high-end retail boutique, a museum, or just your own walk-in

It’s officially winter, and while many of us are dreaming of cozy fires and hot cocoa, our six-legged (and occasionally eight-legged or four-legged) friends have the exact same idea. In the pest world, there’s a common misconception that once it gets cold, all the bugs just… disappear. I wish it were that simple! While some go into diapause (essentially insect hibernation), others decide that your heated facility or home is the perfect place to ride out the chill. Here’s the

One of the reasons I have the best job is that I get to troubleshoot. I get to try to put puzzles together, often without all the pieces. I tend to have a “standard” set of questions I start with to pry out additional information, and then I let my brain start working through the problem. I know that when a question gets to me, it’s likely the client has already tried all the “basic” IPM steps so it’s always exciting to start thinking about how to get creative with pest contr